TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor’s Corner 2 MCES Mental Health Parity 3 A Tree for Tony 4 New Directions’ Loved Ones’ Group 4 Compass Interview: Stephen Stahl of New Hope 5 Helping kids cope with parent’s mental illness 6 Being a Better Mom by Jeanine 7 The Old Man and the Mirror by Evan Kaplan 8 Funny Face by Eve Maslin 9 To Be or Not to Be by Judy Kroll 9 What to Do with Victoria? by Norman Cotterell, PhD 12 Latif: 20 Years a Prisoner by Ruth Z Deming 14 Uncle Bernie’s Kitchen by Bernie Samuels 17 News Roundup 18 “Brain and Behavior” Research Findings 23 Side Effects of Antidepressants by Rajnish Mago, MD 24 Neuromodulation: Non-Pharmacologist Approach to Treating Depression by Terrence Boyadjis, MD 26 Neuromodulation: The New TNS by Ian Cook, MD 27 Catching Up 28 Dear Lithium by Hailey James 29 Depression Hurts by Ling 30 The PSTD Experience: Three Stories 31 An American in Iraq by Phil Nerges 31 I Married Trouble by Jill 33 Tale of Loss and Trauma by Iris Arenson-Fuller 34 Bad Diseases Happen to Good People by Jan 37 How to Achieve Better Quality Sleep by Larry DiBello, RPhd 39 What They’re Reading 41 Pursue the Wonderful: Wildflowers by Carolyn Constable 41 KaleidoScope 43 Four poems by Cynthia Marcolina 43 Three poems by David A Barnitz Kime . 44 Life with Blue Glass by Iris Arenson-Fuller . 46 Two poems by Ruth Z Deming 47 Three poems by Martha Hunter 49 A Parent’s Prayer by Martha Hunter 50 The Cheerleader by Carly Brown 51 Three poems by Allan M Heller 51 Three poems by Linda Barrett 54 Two by Frank Kelso Wolfe 55 Two by Craig L Slingluff 56 Photo of Coffeeshop Writers’ Group in Willow Grove, PAInside Back Cover EDITOR’S CORNER topic is yoga, meditation, or helping caregivers take care of themselves - are part of our holistic by Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP, Founder/Director, tradition New Directions Support Group, Abington, PA Especially dear to my heart are nutritionists who speak to us It’s no secret that psych meds The times they are cause weight gain or that your food intake a’changing And thank becomes part of a healthy – or unhealthy - you goodness for that Medication We partner with Mary Ann Moylen, nutritionist, is no longer forever But, at the Willow Grove Giant Food Store Make an please, stay on your meds! appointment with her – it’s free! - and she’ll walk Simply explore the possibility you around the store and help you select healthy with your psychiatrist And and delicious foods Call her at 215-784-1960 dream that some day, after you’re older and have Her favorite snack is peanut butter on whole- a history of knowing yourself and your triggers, grain crackers you may very well be free from medication Half Because I have insulin-dependent diabetes - a dozen people in New Directions, including a side effect from my kidney antirejection meds myself, are med-free without a hitch – I lost kidney function from taking lithium for 2013 saw important victories on the legislative nearly 17 years - I’ve learned to eat healthy and front In a narrow decision, The Supreme Court to avoid eating too many Thin Mints Late at made gay marriage legal, but only in states night on PBS, family doctor Joel Fuhrman, MD, where it was not banned preaches about avoiding fad diets and eating And President Obama won a hard-fought healthy foods for a lifetime victory in the passage of the Affordable Care I follow his teachings about GOMBS, an Act, also known as “Obamacare” acronym for Greens (such as spinach or kale), “It took a hundred years for us to even get to Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds the point where we could start talking about and For breakfast, when I have time to chew – implementing a law to make sure everybody got and it takes a good 15 minutes - I make a salad health insurance,” said the president with spinach, blueberries, green scallions, multi- America finally and painfully climbed on colored peppers, sunflower seeds, pumpkin board to join nations who offer universal health seeds and pecans, topped with fresh lemon juice care, such as Canada, Great Britain, the Nordic and olive oil Chockfull of antioxidants, which countries, Western Europe, most of South help fight cancer America, Asia, and Russia, which, as the former And in these snow-covered wintry days, I Soviet Union, was the first to offer health care keep two dozen eggs in the fridge Nothing more coverage in 1937 delicious than a scrambled egg with mushrooms Hopefully this will ensure that no more and green scallions families need to bankrupt themselves and lose Start young, in your twenties, to make their homes and their savings because of the healthy eating a habit Read food labels Avoid high cost of insurance, especially for previous the American Way of too much salt and sugar conditions We’ve all heard the horror stories Instead of salt, experiment with seasonings – of cancer patients dying because they couldn’t turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon – and sit down afford treatment Unconscionable in this nation and eat with your family, no phones allowed at where cancer can be successfully treated and the sacred table even cured! Over the Christmas holidays I did something Since our inception in 1986, New Directions new and daring I hosted a 17-year-old Chinese has had an impressive list of monthly guest exchange student for two weeks in my Willow speakers, including two women who helped Grove home Yuan Li – called “Bruce” – taught explain the complexities of the Affordable Care me as much as I did him On vacation from La Act Our informative speakers – whether their Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, he Page 2 - The Compass SPRING 2014 showed me the YouTube video “Tank Man” about Montgomery County a Chinese citizen who stood in front of an armed Emergency Service of tank during the 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square The crowd roared its approval and the Norristown, PA, tank stopped in its tracks What happened to Lauds Mental Health “Tank Man” afterward remains a mystery Parity Rules. How about trying something new in 2014? Think a moment What have you always wanted Nov 8, 2013 may someday be known as to do but never had the courage? As Rabbi Hillel “Mental Health Parity Day” It was an auspicious said in 32 BC, “If not now, when?” occasion in the domain of mental health as the Obama Administration spelled out that equal Our Ellen Rosenberg packed her bags and coverage for mental health and substance abuse flew to Bali, northwest treatment on most insurance plans will be the of Australia She teaches law of the land English to first-grade The announcement was made by Health and students, visits colorful Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Hindu shrines, wades in at the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental the Indian Ocean and Health Policy in Atlanta The Former First Lady helped out at a wedding has been a staunch advocate on behalf of mental This annual issue of health for decades and was emotional during The Compass features a Sec Sebelius’ momentous announcement host of truly exciting and “This is a big victory, not just a tangible one, inspirational stories “Getting better, getting but a moral one,” said MCES CEO Bill Myers stronger, living a good life” is the theme “Why should people be put in a position where This entire issue will be posted on our website there are more barriers to seeking treatment for NewDirectionsSupportorg, along with more major depression than for a back injury?” information about our contributors Formerly, many insurance plans would pay a Come see us at New Directions sometime We vastly greater percentage – sometimes as high as offer a Top Doc/Top Therapist List, small group 80 percent – of the costs for medical care but only discussions for Depression and Bipolar, led by 50 percent of mental health care claims Those in people who have “lived the illness,” – including need of inpatient mental health treatment often Ada Moss Fleisher and Helen Kirschner - and an had fewer days covered by insurance than if they outstanding Family and Loved Ones Group, led required inpatient treatment for a medical ailment by Carole and Gregory Hodges Individuals with mental health needs were How did we all come together? How did being essentially penalized for attending to their these amazing individuals – who help us become psychiatric treatment needs Now, most insurance our “best selves” – find us and make us who we companies are required to provide equal are? Is it as saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders sings in coverage for physical and mental health, which his “The Creator Has a Master Plan?” many consumers, experts and advocates see as a big step forward in terms of reducing stigma and However you find us, we’ll have a name tag encouraging adherence to treatment, or seeking ready for you when you show up at our large treatment for mental health in the first place family we call New Directions The Mental Health Parity Law was passed in New Directions, founded by Ruth Deming in 1986, 2008, but it did not apply to people with smaller meets the first and third Tuesday evenings of the month health plans After the passage, psychiatric pre- at Abington Presbyterian Church; and the second and authorizations for care were still required by fourth Thursday mornings at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket, Second Floor Classroom We also host some insurance companies, which is no longer special programs throughout the month See our website permitted (Montgomery County Emergency at NewDirectionsSupportorg Call 215-659-2366 Services, Norristown, PA, 11-8-13)

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